How to Play

Learn the basics of budgeting, saving, and investing by playing month to month.

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Your goal

  • Keep your cash balance healthy.
  • Pay your monthly expenses on time.
  • Improve your earning power with education.
  • Grow long-term wealth with savings, bonds, and index funds.
  • Manage health and happiness while life happens.

Each month, do this

  1. Review your finances (cash, income, expenses, investments).
  2. Adjust spending levels if you can’t comfortably afford your expenses.
  3. Pay expenses for the current month.
  4. Resolve any life event that appears after paying expenses.
  5. Advance to the next month to receive salary and see what changes.

Expenses & spending

Spending choices impact your monthly burn and can affect your overall stability.

  • Lower spending if you’re at risk of not being able to pay.
  • Paying expenses is required before you can advance.

Education

Education completes after a set number of months and can increase your salary.

  • Plan ahead so tuition/fees don’t break your budget.
  • Salary increases apply when the education completes.

Savings account

Keep cash accessible and earn interest over time.

  • Use savings as your safety net for unexpected events.
  • Interest can apply as you roll into a new year.

Investing (bonds & index funds)

Investing helps you build wealth, but timing and risk matter.

  • Bonds can pay interest and return principal at maturity.
  • Index funds can change in price and may pay dividends.

Life events

After paying expenses, you may get a life event that requires a decision.

  • Some events block advancing until you resolve them.
  • Choose carefully - short-term relief can have long-term costs.

Tips for new players

  • Always keep a buffer so one bad month doesn’t end your run.
  • Don’t over-optimize early - stabilize, then invest.
  • Check the monthly summary before advancing to understand what will change.